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Americans in 13 states could be saving an average of 20% on power

July 15, 2019

“Smart” rate switching can save you time and money, with clean energy.

Twenty years ago, a handful of U.S. states introduced reforms aimed at increasing consumer choice in the energy sector. For the first time in over a century, consumers in these states now had options when it came to where they got their energy. Through the promise of competition, these market reforms were aimed at driving down energy costs and benefiting households across the country.

Today, consumers in nearly 20 states maintain this ability to “shop around” for energy. And while large companies have taken advantage of these competitive markets through the use of “brokers” — services that monitor energy prices daily — there hasn’t been a convenient and accessible avenue for residential consumers to participate.

The current system requires residential consumers to put significant effort into researching and understanding the market, monitoring ever-evolving rate fluctuations, and ultimately switching to a new supplier who they may not know or trust. This complex process is simply not a priority for most Americans who spend on average 8 minutes a year thinking about their utility bills.

But what if there was a free digital service that could do it for them?

Arcadia’s Smart Rate feature was designed to bring the same brokerage services large companies have benefited from for decades to every household across the country. Smart Rate uses data science and advanced algorithms to monitor the energy market for lower rates — ultimately switching households to clean energy at a lower cost. Our technology leverages our robust community in each state to secure exclusively low prices in the energy market.

On average, Smart Rate has saved households 20% on their monthly energy bill, based on data from over 1,000 Arcadia accounts across 13 open market states. Even more impressive, households in New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania all saved an average of 30%. And households in Maine and Illinois saved 40% on average.

Average savings was calculated by comparing the rates of households on energy supply contracts before and after enrolling in Arcadia. Through our Smart Rate feature, we monitored the market to find these members lower rates, automatically switching them over at no cost to them.

As our data shows, many households across the country are overpaying for electricity when they could be saving. And as energy suppliers fight to stay competitive, consumer-facing tech innovations such as Smart Rate remain imperative. In our hyper digital, convenience-oriented society, this new technology can better meet consumers where they are, helping to achieve the vision of competition in the energy market that policy makers set out on twenty years ago.